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<blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 7012777" data-attributes="member: 6777737"><p>I assumed a long time ago that "studded leather" was simply a name for a "jack of plate", aka, brigandine jackets. And, I mean, leather armor other than hide pretty much didn't exist, either. In most forms, leather was used to protect, hold, or conceal metal, or to provide for protection to less critical areas that you couldn't afford to protect with metal or didn't know how to protect with metal (forearms, upper arms, lower legs). Metal has always been the basis of protection for the core body, however. That's why we had bronze armors.</p><p></p><p>I always thought the armor chart should look like this:</p><p></p><p>Gambeson: A stiff linen and wool jacket. All mail or plated armor is generally worn over a gambeson, so anybody with a suit of that is going to have one of these. Minimal protection. This is D&D's cloth armor.</p><p></p><p>Hide/cuir bouilli/leather: Usually worn for warmth or protection from the elements, or by a smith for protection from metal sparks and spall. Probably better than a gambeson, but not much protection.</p><p></p><p>Ring Armor: Not ring mail; these rings aren't interconnected. This type of armor is largely speculation, as I don't think they've <em>ever</em> found any examples of it. However, it's speculated that metal rings were sewn to leather or cloth. This is the closest analogy to studded leather, which is why I included it, but I think it's actually best described as a very early form of brigandine, although chain is what supplanted it, I think.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigandine" target="_blank">Jack of Plates/Brigandine</a>: A gambeson or leather coat with plates usually sewn inside it and completely covering the upper torso. This is what the armor that people used to think was studded leather from historic depictions, and was quite popular for a long time. I'd be tempted to use for studded leather, but I suspect it protects better than a mail hauberk.</p><p></p><p>Mail shirt/mail coat/hauberk: Basically a shirt of chain that only covers the torso and maybe the upper thighs. Benefits were being light, flexible, and easy to repair. You see a lot of depictions of Vikings and Romans (lorica hamata) wearing hauberks.</p><p></p><p>Heavy/Full Mail: This is just a mail coat with full arm protection, leg/foot protection of some kind, gauntlets of some kind, and a helm of some kind. This is what William the Conqueror's heavy cavalry knights are depicted as wearing in the Bayeux Tapestry that helped inspire that "ring mail" fiasco.</p><p></p><p>Cuirass/breastplate: Basically just a cuirass over a gambeson with a helm, possibly with some shoulder, arm or leg protection. It's a very old style. Greek hoplite armor included a bronze breastplate if it could be afforded, conquistadors are often depicted wearing a breastplate and helm, and cuirassiers were a famous cavalry rank in the Napoleonic wars.</p><p></p><p>Lamellar/scale: Both an early form of plate, lamellar and scale are different, but they're similar enough in design and mentioned together often enough that I categorize them together. The difference is that scale is laced to a backing, while with lamellar the scales are laced to each other. Lamellar armor would often appear as either a breastplate-like garment worn over mail. The Romans wore scale known as lorica squamata. Some lamellar armors made by the Japanese were lacquered, and they are known to have substituted or alternated leather plates for iron.</p><p></p><p>Laminar: The famous Roman lorica segmentata is the most well known laminar armor, although the Japanese are known for it as well. It's another early form of plate armor.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_and_plate_armour" target="_blank">Splinted armor/plate and mail/mail and plate/coat of plates/</a>: This is a mail suit that has plates linked into the armor. A logical progression from just a mail coat. Most books I've seen call this a transitional armor. This is what I think of when people say, "plate mail."</p><p></p><p>Partial plate/half plate: This is basically either a full suit with some of the less exposed plates discarded for added mobility or reduced weight, or a transitional breastplate that has arm and/or leg plates. Turns out that people don't like to wear a lot of weight, so they tended to only wear the parts of the armor that kept them alive the best in battle. Even soldiers today do that.</p><p></p><p>Full plate/gothic plate: All plate armor with little to no mail covering the entire body.</p><p></p><p>You'll notice I left banded out. That's because it didn't really exist. It's a conflation of multiple types of armor, including laminar, mail, and brigandine.</p><p></p><p>The hard part of including all of these into one game is that a lot of these types of armor just stopped being made because later types replaced them completely.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It doesn't really matter. Those are all modern terms. Historically, they were all just swords. If it was longer than normal, it was a long sword. If it was shorter than normal, it was a short sword. If it had a broad blade, it was a broadsword. If you could use two hands, it was a two handed sword or battle sword (because who would carry that anywhere except to a battle?). Same with axes, really. They really didn't care about categorizing things like we do. I mean, almost all the polearms are named the same way. Halberd is "staff axe." Glaive supposedly comes from "sword." The bill is made from a billhook. We probably have Carolus Linnaeus to blame for our need to put everything in boxes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bacon Bits, post: 7012777, member: 6777737"] I assumed a long time ago that "studded leather" was simply a name for a "jack of plate", aka, brigandine jackets. And, I mean, leather armor other than hide pretty much didn't exist, either. In most forms, leather was used to protect, hold, or conceal metal, or to provide for protection to less critical areas that you couldn't afford to protect with metal or didn't know how to protect with metal (forearms, upper arms, lower legs). Metal has always been the basis of protection for the core body, however. That's why we had bronze armors. I always thought the armor chart should look like this: Gambeson: A stiff linen and wool jacket. All mail or plated armor is generally worn over a gambeson, so anybody with a suit of that is going to have one of these. Minimal protection. This is D&D's cloth armor. Hide/cuir bouilli/leather: Usually worn for warmth or protection from the elements, or by a smith for protection from metal sparks and spall. Probably better than a gambeson, but not much protection. Ring Armor: Not ring mail; these rings aren't interconnected. This type of armor is largely speculation, as I don't think they've [I]ever[/I] found any examples of it. However, it's speculated that metal rings were sewn to leather or cloth. This is the closest analogy to studded leather, which is why I included it, but I think it's actually best described as a very early form of brigandine, although chain is what supplanted it, I think. [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigandine"]Jack of Plates/Brigandine[/URL]: A gambeson or leather coat with plates usually sewn inside it and completely covering the upper torso. This is what the armor that people used to think was studded leather from historic depictions, and was quite popular for a long time. I'd be tempted to use for studded leather, but I suspect it protects better than a mail hauberk. Mail shirt/mail coat/hauberk: Basically a shirt of chain that only covers the torso and maybe the upper thighs. Benefits were being light, flexible, and easy to repair. You see a lot of depictions of Vikings and Romans (lorica hamata) wearing hauberks. Heavy/Full Mail: This is just a mail coat with full arm protection, leg/foot protection of some kind, gauntlets of some kind, and a helm of some kind. This is what William the Conqueror's heavy cavalry knights are depicted as wearing in the Bayeux Tapestry that helped inspire that "ring mail" fiasco. Cuirass/breastplate: Basically just a cuirass over a gambeson with a helm, possibly with some shoulder, arm or leg protection. It's a very old style. Greek hoplite armor included a bronze breastplate if it could be afforded, conquistadors are often depicted wearing a breastplate and helm, and cuirassiers were a famous cavalry rank in the Napoleonic wars. Lamellar/scale: Both an early form of plate, lamellar and scale are different, but they're similar enough in design and mentioned together often enough that I categorize them together. The difference is that scale is laced to a backing, while with lamellar the scales are laced to each other. Lamellar armor would often appear as either a breastplate-like garment worn over mail. The Romans wore scale known as lorica squamata. Some lamellar armors made by the Japanese were lacquered, and they are known to have substituted or alternated leather plates for iron. Laminar: The famous Roman lorica segmentata is the most well known laminar armor, although the Japanese are known for it as well. It's another early form of plate armor. [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_and_plate_armour"]Splinted armor/plate and mail/mail and plate/coat of plates/[/URL]: This is a mail suit that has plates linked into the armor. A logical progression from just a mail coat. Most books I've seen call this a transitional armor. This is what I think of when people say, "plate mail." Partial plate/half plate: This is basically either a full suit with some of the less exposed plates discarded for added mobility or reduced weight, or a transitional breastplate that has arm and/or leg plates. Turns out that people don't like to wear a lot of weight, so they tended to only wear the parts of the armor that kept them alive the best in battle. Even soldiers today do that. Full plate/gothic plate: All plate armor with little to no mail covering the entire body. You'll notice I left banded out. That's because it didn't really exist. It's a conflation of multiple types of armor, including laminar, mail, and brigandine. The hard part of including all of these into one game is that a lot of these types of armor just stopped being made because later types replaced them completely. It doesn't really matter. Those are all modern terms. Historically, they were all just swords. If it was longer than normal, it was a long sword. If it was shorter than normal, it was a short sword. If it had a broad blade, it was a broadsword. If you could use two hands, it was a two handed sword or battle sword (because who would carry that anywhere except to a battle?). Same with axes, really. They really didn't care about categorizing things like we do. I mean, almost all the polearms are named the same way. Halberd is "staff axe." Glaive supposedly comes from "sword." The bill is made from a billhook. We probably have Carolus Linnaeus to blame for our need to put everything in boxes. [/QUOTE]
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